$25/month unlimited internet....interested?

[gsgriffin]

Originally Posted by smiller

As has been discussed in the thread there are various methods to try to spoof your hotspot connection to bypass the throttle and some have reported success, but bottom line, Visible's policy (and more and more the actual reality) is that hotspot data is throttled to 5 mbps and a subscriber should not expect more than this (and video content is throttled further to about 1.5 mbps/480p.)

Yes, the very bottom of the instruction sheet from post #10 does give a link to how to avoid the 5mb limit on a hotspot. It does work. I stream good quality TV and sometimes on 2 TVs. The video throttle is also only for the phone.

Bottom line (and what I keep trying to suggest in threads and the instructions), this is NOT for those that are demanding everything and all the time. If you want inexpensive, unlimited, always highspeed, never throttled or deprioritized, and works everywhere....there is no option.

If you want highspeed, not throttled, always prioritized at any cost...then go with the big guys and pay whatever they demand.

If you want unlimited internet using Verizon tower coverage with a fairly good speed for most people, most of the time, BUT it sometimes get slower, some people don't have good speeds in their area, takes a little tweaking to make it work fairly well, then Visible at this time appears to be a good option.

[dkperez]

Yup, exactly what gsgriffin said... Anecdotally, and worth about as much as the repeated reports of fantastic speeds in East Overshoe and wherever, at 10:15 LAST NIGHT I had 3 bars and wasn't able to stream tv at higher than 144 - unwatchable. Had to switch to the house DSL.


It is what it is, and it mostly works, most of the time. But DON'T EVER count on it.

[smiller]

The video throttle is also only for the phone.

No, the video throttle applies to both phone and hotspot. You can evade it by using a VPN, assuming that you do not encounter problems with the streaming service rejecting access via VPN.

And no need to defend Visible as a choice because I'm not attacking Visible as a choice (use it myself in fact), only trying to provide correct information.

[pasdad1]

Visible doing good at the Verde Canyon Railroad Depot in Arizona!

[moisheh]

I was following much of this thread but because we Canadians cannot cross the border I gave up. I will be doing some long haul trucking into the US and thought it would be nice to stream some Netflix while waiting at a shipper or when doing a 34 hour reset. I have read that Visible will throttle your speed if you use the phone as a Hotspot. Is that correct? If I buy the router and other eqpt. that Griffin so kindly recommended would that prevent the throttling?
Thank you.

[smiller]

Originally Posted by moisheh

I was following much of this thread but because we Canadians cannot cross the border I gave up. I will be doing some long haul trucking into the US and thought it would be nice to stream some Netflix while waiting at a shipper or when doing a 34 hour reset. I have read that Visible will throttle your speed if you use the phone as a Hotspot. Is that correct? If I buy the router and other eqpt. that Griffin so kindly recommended would that prevent the throttling?
Thank you.

Hotspot data on Visible is throttled to 5 mbps but that's not the limit that should concern you if your intent is video streaming because even 5 mbps is enough for 720-1080 HD, so no problem there. The gotcha for streaming is that video is throttled to about 1.5 mbps (480p), and this is true for hotspot or on-phone data. Actually 480p isn't that bad so it may work for you as is, but OTOH some feel that it is inadequate, just an entirely subjective thing. Techniques using an external router or spoofing TTL to avoid the hotspot throttle will have no effect on video throttling.

You can bypass the video throttle by using a VPN (which will mask the data so Visible won't know that it is video) but a concern there is that most video streaming services will detect use of a VPN and disallow access. There are VPN services that can work around this, it's pretty much a game of whack-a-mole as the video streaming services try to detect and the VPNs try to avoid detection. I have been successful streaming Netflix over a VPN (although sometimes I have to experiment and change VPN servers, kinda a PITA when I just want to watch TV) but I have yet to get Amazon Prime to work over a VPN, they must use a more sophisticated detection technique. But again, if you can live with 480p (probably just fine unless you are viewing on a big screen) then none of this is a concern and you're good to go.

The last issue with Visible for your application is that sometimes data can be deprioritized to the point that you can't reliably stream video at all, but usually this only occurs on busy urban towers and if you would be traveling through mostly rural areas then this likely wouldn't be a problem.

[Darrowman]

We live in a rural area where the signal is not the best, but are using Visible and have been for around 18 months. Visible is our only internet connection. I guess the tower traffic is low enough that it allows us to use Visible for everything, including great video on a 75" TV while still using computers and tablets.

We have been in places on the road where you could not use the service for even checking emails, but the bulk of the time it's very acceptable and we are very happy with the results, your results may vary.

Thanks a bunch to Griffin for figuring all this out! I followed the instructions in post #10 and it has worked well for a long time. We do reboot the phone and router occasionally when the speed consistently slows down and that usually speeds us back up again.

As has been stated many times in this thread, this setup works most of the time for not a lot of money.

Thanks Griffin!!

[Inventor]

Originally Posted by Darrowman

We live in a rural area where the signal is not the best, but are using Visible and have been for around 18 months. Visible is our only internet connection. I guess the tower traffic is low enough that it allows us to use Visible for everything, including great video on a 75" TV while still using computers and tablets.

We have been in places on the road where you could not use the service for even checking emails, but the bulk of the time it's very acceptable and we are very happy with the results, your results may vary.

Thanks a bunch to Griffin for figuring all this out! I followed the instructions in post #10 and it has worked well for a long time. We do reboot the phone and router occasionally when the speed consistently slows down and that usually speeds us back up again.

As has been stated many times in this thread, this setup works most of the time for not a lot of money.

Thanks Griffin!!
Attachment 324145

Yes I'm in how do I get started

[PS56]

Originally Posted by smiller

if your intent is video streaming because even 5 mbps is enough for 720-1080 HD, so no problem there. .

I use Visible with Sling TV.
phone
laptop
HDMI connecting laptop to TV

Sling TV gives you playback options. I've found even with the data at the lowest setting I still get a good video picture on all devices.

[whalepirot]

Online speed test shows a pitiful 2.0-2.6mb/s akin to my antique DSL. I've not gotten so afar as the throttle defeat and connect to one laptop via BT. I've not seen where/how to do it or IF this zit phone will allow same.

Their lest expensive phone is the Chinese ZTE Blade A3, chosen as the battery is changeable with similar specs to the A7. (R2 must be long gone.)

The Blade A3 quick start guide warns to NOT remove the back cover (where the batter must be inserted), then advises to insert the (unique) USB to charge the uninserted battery ASAP; good trick, if it were accurate. As most current 8 year olds know, the SIM card goes inside, too. Even I figured out that out was useless to follow their guide, which med on to WiFi access for further setup.

It never worked via a public free WiFi, but kicked off immediately at my home. Whether te activation actually succeeded was murky, but became happarent after I caressed and rubbed in various ways, trying various sequences of the 3 actual 'buttons' (two volume, one PWR). How-tos on transitio9ns from one screen or app to another is learned by the mentioned hunt-and-peck(gesture) frustrations, not the guide.

Online community is suggested as your resource with a very delayed CS chat that I quit.

I tried the SIM card in a Jetpack 8744 (4G) with no success; part of why I began this odyssey.

I may dump this and return the zit phone, with T-Mobil and others' new offerings.

[whalepirot]

Originally Posted by whalepirot

Online speed test shows a pitiful 2.0-2.6mb/s akin to my antique DSL.

Interestingly, I searched for, then used a different test site; likely more indicative of my online 'sense'.

D/L was about 8Mb/s (4 bars), about triple the first test. I have no idea how to check the tower's load.

I wish this forum allowed adding to/amending a prior post instead of adding a new.

[slabman]

I've been on here in the past, voicing my dissatisfaction with Visible. For some reason, I hung onto one sim, just to give it another try on this trip. The past 3 days we've stopped in Lafayette LA, the Florida panhandle and tonight in Tampa. At each stop I've had surprisingly great service with minimum speeds of 10mbps and as high as 40! I'm using a Note 8 which I re-configured to work on Visible because it isn't on their list. I feed through a GL-iNet router, configured with a ttl of 65. So, it looks like I may have to keep this thing going for a little while more!

[dkperez]

whalepirot, I can empathize... But, you were warned not to rely on Visible. 2 Mb/s isn't unusual. Wouldn't rely much on their support, either - as you've found. You may find a different server you can test against that's a little faster, but I suspect there are more people in here, and out there, seeing 2 Mb/s than 50. Or 30.



And Visible just keeps dumping commercials on TV to increase the congestion.

[smiller]

Basically Visible works... until it doesn't, and then it works again. My experience was that it provides at least reasonable speeds most of the time and at $25 isn't a bad deal, if you can tolerate the occasional and unpredictable periods of 1-2 (or even sub-mbps) service. If you can just shrug and do something else when this happens then great, but I would not count on it as a primary carrier if you are using it for work or anything critical.

I eventually had to supplement Visible with a T-Mo 55+ Magenta Max plan. Considering that Netflix HD is included the net cost isn't much more than Visible (for the two lines we need) and provides unlimited premium (never deprioritized regardless of usage) data, up to 4K video, and 40 GB of hotspot but the limit is easy to bypass so that is essentially unlimited as well. I have to say it's nice being first in line for bandwidth instead of last.